


baby you feel like a thousand foot drop

by birlcholtz (justwhatialwayswanted)



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Amusement Parks, M/M, Meet-Cute, chowder and farmer make cameos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 12:48:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16137569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justwhatialwayswanted/pseuds/birlcholtz
Summary: Jo keeps giving me good ideas for ficlets and then I have to write them. Enjoy.Based on that one post going around about the rollercoaster where 'Single Riders will be paired'





	baby you feel like a thousand foot drop

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jxc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jxc/gifts).



Dex knows he shouldn’t have let Chowder and Farmer drag him along to the amusement park. He knows, okay? They’re great at not making him feel like a third wheel, most of the time. Almost all of the time, actually.

And then they line up for the rollercoasters.

Sometimes, they get lucky, and the rollercoaster in question is three per row. But usually it’s pairs. Pairs and pairs and pairs. Couples and best friends and middle schoolers with all the awkwardness of two kids who like-like each other. And that means one of the three of them will get paired up with some other random person who doesn’t have someone to ride with, or who’s part of an odd-numbered group.

And, okay, Chowder and Farmer know this and the three of them have made a deal to rotate who’s in the pair and who sits with a stranger, but Dex still can’t help feeling like something must have gone wrong here. Because it’s his turn to be with a stranger, and the person who the employees have paired him with is  _ unfairly _ attractive.

So now, not only is it going to be awkward on the rollercoaster because they don’t know each other, it’s going to be awkward because Dex is trying  _ really really hard _ not to stare. Or blush. Or do anything, really, except stand still.

Finally, it’s time for them to get into their row, and once they’re both seated, the other person turns to him and says, “‘Sup. Ready to crush this?”

“I’m not sure we have much of a choice in the matter?”

The corner of the person’s mouth quirks up. “Killjoy.”

Dex feels his mouth doing the same. “Yeah, okay.” And then he says “I’m Will,” just because they’ve already spoken to each other and he feels like he should.

“Derek.”

“You part of a group of three too?”

“Yeah, we’re taking turns on who gets paired up with a complete stranger.”

“Oh, us too.” And then the warning announcements begin, and by the time they’re done the car is already starting to move, so they don’t say anything else to each other.

The ascent, as always, is kind of nerve-wracking. Dex knows they’re not going to crash and burn, but he just hates how slow it goes, because it gives him plenty of time to think about how slow it’s going and wonder if it’s going to start going backwards and he’ll fall off the coaster. He taps his fingers on the bar and focuses on the top of the climb, which keeps getting closer. The sky behind it is one hundred percent blue.

Closer, and closer, and closer, and they hang at the top for just a moment before Dex feels his stomach drop and the car hurtles downward, and almost at that precise second, Derek lets out a yell next to him and throws his hands up.

Normally, this would not be exceptional, except he doesn’t stop. The sound continues all the way down the first slope, and up the second one, and he pauses to take a quick breath at the top of the next hill, and then it just. Keeps going.

Dex is honestly impressed. Derek’s lung capacity must be substantial to keep that up for that long. But it is loud.

When the ride ends, he doesn’t even think about it— he just turns to Derek as they’re waiting for their lap bar to be lifted and says, “You gotta chill.”

He laughs. “Usually I do. Rollercoasters are the exception. I think they’re more fun that way.”

Dex shrugs. “I used to challenge myself to see how much of a rollercoaster I could get through without screaming, and then I got really good at it, so.”

“So now it’s habit?” When Dex shrugs again, Derek says, “That’s fair.”

“Now I just try to look as bored as possible for the picture.”

“Oh, dude, we  _ have _ to go look at our picture.”

And, well. They  _ have _ to. 

They shuffle past the other people getting off the rollercoaster, and fortunately both of them are tall enough to see over the heads of the people in front of them.

In the picture, Dex is sitting there looking like he’s about to die a natural death, and Derek has his hands straight up in the air, looking like he’s having the time of his life.

“The duality of man,” Dex says, and Derek laughs.

Chowder and Farmer were sitting a couple cars in front of them, but Dex has lost track of them completely, and from the way Derek is looking around, Dex is willing to bet he can’t find his friends either.

“I’m gonna go get some food,” Dex says. “It’ll be easier for me to meet up with my friends at a landmark than in the middle of the walkway. Want to come?”

Derek smiles, wide and bright, and says, “Sure.”

The walkway is crammed with people, enough so that Derek says, “Wait, I’m gonna lose track of you,” and then somehow both of them come to the same conclusion and grab hands. Even though Dex’s brain is saying ‘not with this height and this hair, you won’t.’ Somehow, it doesn’t seem like the right thing to say.

They fight their way through the crowds (not literally, although Dex is occasionally tempted to pull out a check or two) and finally—  _ finally— _ get to the nearest food, a counter serving ice cream.

“I want a milkshake,” Derek declares when they’re in line, and Dex says, “Yeah, that sounds good, me too.”

But then they shuffle a few steps forward— at some point, Dex becomes aware that they’re still gripping each other’s hands like they’re afraid of losing each other, but he doesn’t point it out because then Derek might let go and Dex doesn’t want that— and then Derek says with dismay, “They’re so  _ big.” _

“Holy shit, twenty ounces? That’s huge. Uh... what flavor do you want? Because we could split one.”

“Chocolate?”

Dex nods. “Chocolate.”

They get their enormous milkshake, with two straws, and it takes Dex a full ten minutes to realize he never texted Chowder and Farmer to tell them where he went, but when he says so, Derek laughs again and says he did too. And Dex’s phone stays untouched in his pocket for a while longer after that, but it’s okay because when he does take it out and look at it, his only notification is a text from Farmer saying:  _ saw u leave w that cute stranger ;) lmk when u want to leave _


End file.
